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Come for the stick figures. Stay for the Bergman.Sat, 09 Dec 2017 13:19:11 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/e3680b6997da4b29b6f5e81f20b8c83e?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pnghttps://tdylf.com
Graph: The Audibility of Darth Vader’s Voice by Location on his Breathing Maskhttps://tdylf.com/2015/03/08/graph-the-audibility-of-darth-vaders-voice-by-location-on-his-breathing-mask/
https://tdylf.com/2015/03/08/graph-the-audibility-of-darth-vaders-voice-by-location-on-his-breathing-mask/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 03:43:58 +0000http://tdylf.com/?p=13526Continue reading →]]>There’s a lot of magic, both dark or otherwise, in the Star Wars universe. This is doubly true for the villain in the series, Darth Vader. But it’s not all magic. In fact, there is some cold, hard data out there about Vader. Specifically, we can chart just how easy it is to hear what he’s saying based on which part of his face it’s coming from. I’ve done just that in this bar graph.

Whether you know him as “Godzilla” or “Gojira”, a monster by any other name does not compare. Godzilla is the internationally-respected icon of radioactivity gone AWOL, famous for destroying cities from Tokyo to Paris with his hulking jaws, giant green feet and dangerously bad breath. But being a pop culture icon for over 60 years isn’t easy. After causing a ruckus in more than thirty different films, Ishiro Honda’s iconic monster remains with us, bringing life to our desire for monstrous imagery. And he isn’t going away anytime soon.

Following the conclusion of the Second World War, director Ishiro Honda lived through the nuclear disasters in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When additional nuclear testing and the Lucky Dragon incident caused a nationwide panic in Japan, he was compelled to create a film that would metaphorically showcase the horrors of atomic warfare and radioactive fallout. Inspired by the plot and stylistic elements within the American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Gojira was released in 1954.

A giant prehistoric beast, awakened by nuclear explosions, rises from his slumber and begins to take his revenge on the Japanese people. Thrashing through Tokyo in a rage aimed at the scientists responsible for the nuclear blast, he seems impossible to defeat. The plot of the film primarily focuses on Doctor Serizawa, one of the scientists, as he weighs the decision to use more nuclear weapons to combat Gojira – potentially escalating the already-dangerous levels of radioactivity present on the island. In the end, the doctor sacrifices himself to ensure such devastating weaponry never makes it into the public’s hands. The film tackled timely issues pertaining to scientific responsibility and wartime guilt. Filled with symbolism and strong messages about nuclear war, it remains incomparable, even among the CGI-driven monster movies of today.

Gojira was a huge success in Japan, fathering 27 more sequels and becoming the backbone of the “Kaiju” genre for many years to come. “Kaiju”, meaning “strange creature” in Japanese, includes hundreds of different types of cinematic monsters, ranging from Mothra to Rodan and everything in between. Many of the enormously-proportioned monsters would continue to be used as symbols of the misuse of atomic weaponry and fears surrounding the invisible powers of radioactivity.

Gojira did make his his way to the USA, but he lost a lot of his original character in the process. In its American iteration, the film was edited to include a white American journalist character played by Raymond Burr, and cut to eliminate any anti-nuclear messages that might arouse feelings of self-reproach in American audiences. Unfortunately, its release would also set a strange precedent for the series in Western cinemas. Bad dubbing, comically campy plots and terrible acting would lead Godzilla away from his role as a harbinger of radioactive terror and towards a career as a matinee idol and children’s TV star. While some of his films, such as 1998’s notorious flop Godzilla are available online (see here or here), fans of the monster have largely come to rely on late-night TV reruns for hits like Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.

Seeing new iterations of the monster to be completely out of touch with what the original Gojira film stood for, Toho shut down any further use of their iconic creature in the late nineties. In 2014, however, American production studio Legendary Pictures once again revived the Godzilla epic. Grossing more than $524 Million worldwide over the course of its run, it brought Godzilla, as well as the original concept behind “Gojira”, back to the forefront of pop culture. Springing forward from this rejuvenated success, Toho has decided to release another Gojira film in 2016, with filming set to begin the summer of 2015.

Godzilla plays on the darker side of so-called scientific “progress.” With a variety of ever-threatening global hazards, including the looming threat of nuclear war and the upcoming 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it will be interesting to see which message this new film will attempt to impart on contemporary audiences. Following the release of 2014’s American Godzilla movie, Japanese movie makers will finally have the opportunity to reclaim a diluted cultural legacy, hopefully this time with political messages intact.

]]>https://tdylf.com/2015/02/24/gojira-roars-back-in-toho-studios-2016-reboot/feed/4Celluloid HeroGodzilla+1954+000_0Mothra-21493_4What Disney Princesses Would Look Like if People Would Stop Reimagining Them as Other Craphttps://tdylf.com/2015/02/22/what-disney-princesses-would-look-like-if-people-would-stop-reimagining-them-as-other-crap/
https://tdylf.com/2015/02/22/what-disney-princesses-would-look-like-if-people-would-stop-reimagining-them-as-other-crap/#commentsSun, 22 Feb 2015 19:33:50 +0000http://tdylf.com/?p=13478Continue reading →]]>

We’ve seen Disney princesses reimagined in a lot of wacky ways in the last few years. Amongst a thousand other things, we’ve seen them twisted, as Star Wars characters, with beards, with Instagram accounts, and as Batman characters. Truly, the world of reimagined Disney princesses is a rich tapestry. But there’s one piece missing. What would Disney princesses look like if people would stop reimagining them as other stuff?

]]>https://tdylf.com/2015/02/22/what-disney-princesses-would-look-like-if-people-would-stop-reimagining-them-as-other-crap/feed/15Celluloid HeroPrincessHeaderDisney's Beauty and the Beast (1991)jasmine_03Part_of_your_world_(reprise)Cinderella-disneyscreencaps.com-5422SnowWhite6mulan-wallpaper-mulan-2471043-1024-768ElsaFrozenThe-princess-and-the-frog-disney-princess-10325717-1280-730Original Trailers for Baseball Movieshttps://tdylf.com/2015/02/17/original-trailers-for-baseball-movies/
https://tdylf.com/2015/02/17/original-trailers-for-baseball-movies/#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 03:53:54 +0000http://tdylf.com/?p=13489Continue reading →]]>The entire country is buried under a blanket of disheartening snow, but there is hope. Baseball is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers are slowly making their way to Florida and Arizona for spring training. To help ward off the chill, here are the original trailers of some classic (and some not-so-classic) baseball movies.

Field of Dreams (1989)

The Bad News Bears (1976)

Bull Durham (1988)

Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

Fear Strikes Out (1957)

The Sandlot (1993)

61* (2001)

Eight Men Out (1988)

Angels in the Outfield (1951)

A League of Their Own (1992)

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

The Natural (1984)

The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
I’m including this one because I think it’s a great documentary, and because I want to endorse the concept of the indie leagues.

The 2014 movie season is done, evidenced by the arrival of the barrage of award ceremonies. But it’s not too late to recap how it all shook down at the box office. Here is every film that reached #1 at the box office in 2014, all quilted together in a tidy infograph.

P.T. Anderson is back in theaters, with Inherent Vice gaining a wide release this weekend. He has built quite a career for himself. Any conversation about the best American filmmakers working today has to include his name. Over the years, he has developed a style all his own, complete with recurring themes, actors, and even individual elements. I’ve put it all together in a scorecard.

As always, click on the image for the full-res version.

]]>https://tdylf.com/2015/01/10/infograph-the-p-t-anderson-scorecard/feed/2Celluloid HeroPTAScorecard_HeaderPTA_ScorecardITC Serif Gothic: The New Sci-Fi and Horror Fonthttps://tdylf.com/2015/01/10/itc-serif-gothic-the-new-sci-fi-and-horror-font/
https://tdylf.com/2015/01/10/itc-serif-gothic-the-new-sci-fi-and-horror-font/#commentsSat, 10 Jan 2015 18:22:44 +0000http://tdylf.com/?p=13449Continue reading →]]>For approximately a year, I’ve been seeing a new font pop up in movie posters and promotional materials, amongst other places. It drove me crazy trying to find the name of it because it’s more of a retro typeface, clearly used primarily in the late 60s, 1970s, and early 80s. Finally, I dug a little deeper and found it. It’s ITC Serif Gothic, and it invokes all sorts of connotations of 70s horror and sci-fi. Sure enough, that’s exactly how it’s being used today- to inspire warm, fuzzy retro feelings of nostalgia about a very specific genre and era of films. It may sound like I’m busting the chops of poster designers, but I actually kind of love this. I think it’s a great font that serves its exact purpose to a tee. After drowning in years of Trajan, Gotham, and Gill Sans, it’s a breath of fresh air. Here are several examples of ITC Serif Gothic in recent use.

Here, you can see it at the bottom in the film’s title.

It’s even creeping into the big budget stuff, appearing here in the white copy of the new Star Wars title card.

This poster doesn’t even try to hide that it wants to evoke the 70s. Even the layout is straight nostalgia. It’s spectacular.

Admittedly, that may not seem like a lot. But keep in mind that this is a typeface that wasn’t on anyone’s radar 24 months ago. It’s also worth noting that it’s emblematic of a larger trend- the return of 70s design. There are countless examples of it. It’s a fun trend, one worth keeping an eye on over the next year or two.

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing.

Today’s Re-Watchterpiece Theater target is actually a direct result of TV. Specifically, I binge-watched NBC’s Hannibal– two seasons, 26 episodes- over the span of about one week. That I watched that much of it so quickly should tell you everything you need to know about my opinion of that show. Ultimately, it inspired me to re-watch the most popular version of everyone’s favorite cannibal, 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. It’s a film I hadn’t seen in two decades. What changed?

Oof

The First ViewingTo be blunt, the first viewing was rather banal. I was visiting my aunt and uncle and their family, probably for some holiday in 1993. Note that visits to this uncle entailed at least a 4-hour drive, so this was an overnight stay. We walked in, put our bags down, settled in to the living room, and my uncle said, “We rented Silence of the Lambs. Seen it yet?” I believe Pizza Hut was involved during the viewing.

We watched the movie, and I was distracted most of the time because my cousin and I were messing around and barely paying attention. I vaguely recall thinking the Death’s Head moth was really creepy, and everyone remembers everything about Buffalo Bill, including his tucked-back-wiener dance to “Goodbye Horses”. Then there was Hannibal himself, expertly played by Anthony Hopkins. He was a quote machine in that movie, uttering one line after another that audiences would never forget, up to and including his teeth-sucking sneer about fava beans. That’s pretty much it. I enjoyed it but didn’t get anything deep out of it.

Naturally, since then, I’ve seen bits and pieces, but certainly never the full film in its entirety. I probably saw the classic Hannibal Lecter quote scenes more than the entire rest of the film combined over those 20ish years.

The Re-WatchThere was one humongous aspect that I missed the first time, and it was readily apparent on the re-watch. Specifically, Clarice Starling is a feminist hero. But before we get there, first let’s discuss the world she inhabited.

They’re like Batman and Robin, or… something

In Starling’s world, almost every single male character objectifies her in some way. Her fellow trainees, male, leer suggestively at her. The camera goes to great pains to note this. Dr. Chilton hits on her almost immediately, and acts like a petulant child when he is rebuffed. Pilcher the moth geek blatantly hits on her, with Starling even calling him out on it. And while Jack Crawford doesn’t overtly hit on her, he uses her femininity throughout the film, most notably to get law enforcement out of the room. She is not a person but rather a means to his end- catching Buffalo Bill and getting Hannibal Lecter’s assistance. Testosterone and brutish male behavior is figuratively thrown in her face early in the film via Miggs. At some point, the misogyny is so rampant that you have to assume it’s over the top and done for effect.

Ironically, Lecter- one of the most notorious villains in film history- actually treats her with respect to some degree. He certainly doesn’t hit on her. She doesn’t treat him like an animal as so many others do, and he helps her solve the case.

Here’s subtext in your eye!

It’s the world that Starling inhabits which allows her to put on the crown of feminist hero. She never once flinches at the paternalistic bullshit, the come-ons, or even Miggs’ semen*. It’s that determination to wade through the bullshit that enables her to solve what nobody else can. And she does it in a way that none of the other male characters would have- by simply respecting Lecter and treating him with dignity. And lest you think I’m reaching, look at how the other male characters treat Lecter. Chilton is a monster to him. Crawford warns Clarice not to share personal information, but doing so (“Quid pro quo, Clarice”) is what gets Lecter’s cooperation. His captors generally make his life miserable. Starling’s approach is completely unique in the context of the film and it allows her to solve the crime.

In the years since I saw Silence of the Lambs the first time, I’ve seen it on the AFI Top 100 and thought, “I guess it belongs. At least it’s memorable enough.” I never once thought about any subtext. But there it is in flashing neon lights. Lecter grabs your attention, but it’s Starling’s role as hero that makes the film special.

Thanks to Dr. Kelli Marshall for helping me out with this- you can find the Twitter conversation here.

*Ok, maybe she literally flinched there, but not metaphorically- returning again and again to interview Lecter. Plus, who wouldn’t literally flinch?

If you’re my age (38), give or take 8 years or so, you’ve seen Chris Rock’s entire career. You saw him on Saturday Night Live in the early 90s. You saw him break out with his fellow SNL alums soon thereafter. You may have even seen him in Beverly Hills Cop II. You cringed when he starred in Adam Sandler movies, and basked in his comedy specials. And odds are pretty good that you’ve been waiting for him to catch a big break. Sure, he’s had some modest successes, but nothing befitting someone as funny and intelligent as Chris Rock. It may have taken until he was almost 50 years old, but his masterpiece finally arrived in the form of Top Five.

The consensus on Top Five is that it gives off a Woody Allen vibe. With the strolls through New York City, the male-female interaction and sexual tension, and a comic actor yearning to be taken seriously, those comparisons are perfectly apt. But Woody Allen isn’t the only influence Rock wears on his sleeve in Top Five. The ghost of Richard Pryor looms large as well, with Rock putting all of himself out there in the film (even if it is only semi-autobiographical). It’s an enormous part of what makes the film so endearing, especially to those of us who have enjoyed Chris Rock’s work for so long.

And there are the other obvious influences- Rock’s friends. The cast of Top Five reads like a Justice League of 1980s and 1990s stand-up comedians. Jerry Seinfeld, Cedric the Entertainer, Tracy Morgan, the aforementioned Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg, JB Smoove, Brian Regan, Kevin Hart, and Jim Norton all make appearances. Rock’s pal Louis CK only appears as a photo on a wall but you can’t miss him. With that much talent together, it’s only natural that the film would be a riot. It delivers on all fronts there, most notably in an unforgettable orgy flashback featuring Cedric as Jazzy Dee (he’s the motherfuckin’ MAAAAAAAN in Houston).

The other aspect that drives Top Five is that it’s an exceptionally well-written film. The structure is perfect, but it leaves room for Rock to Rock it up as Hammy the Bear, postulating that Planet of the Apes led to Martin Luther King’s demise, and give us glimpses of hilariously over-the-top Rock in a Haitian slave film. It has heart and it works as a romantic comedy, if only lightly, while leaving room for a nifty twist on the Cinderella myth.

Add it all up and it’s as good as Rock has ever been in a career that we all wish had been more acclaimed. It really is hard not to look at his career and wish there had been more. And perhaps there’s more good stuff on the horizon. He’s recently mentioned that he has art house tastes. That would be an amazing turn to his career. But for now, I’ll settle for Top Five.

]]>https://tdylf.com/2014/12/18/top-five-school-of-chris-rock/feed/4Celluloid HeroTopFiveHeaderJazzyDee_TopFiveThe Rededicationinghttps://tdylf.com/2014/12/17/the-rededicationing/
https://tdylf.com/2014/12/17/the-rededicationing/#commentsThu, 18 Dec 2014 00:25:59 +0000http://tdylf.com/?p=13412Continue reading →]]>As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, TDYLF has been abandoned for some time. This is the first post since late August. It’s been a long, strange year. Lots of things- some good, some horrible, some that were just kind of things neither good or horrible- have prevented me from doing much with this site. But I miss it. This site afforded me a chance to work on both my writing and my design skills, all under the guise of watching lots of movies and television. Then I had less time for movies and TV, which meant I had less time to write about movies and TV. And that also meant that there were less ideas coming in, and therefore less ideas being converted into written word. As of today, I’d officially like that to change. I’m not making any promises, but I’d like to rededicate myself to this site, even if it’s just an article or two each week. It was too much fun to let it die on the vine.

So which movies and TV shows have I been dumping into my brain recently? That seems like as good a place as any to fire the ol’ Droid back up.

The Babadook
I’ve had two “holy shit, that was awesome!” movie experiences this year, both in the last month. Jennifer Kent’s Australian horror, The Babadook, is the most recent. I am not one to wilt under the weight of horror. It’s rare that a horror movie actually scares me. But The Babadook chilled me to the bone. It works because it’s so human. Anyone who has ever spent time around a child can tell you that it can be a trying experience. In the case of a single mother of a troubled child, it’s amplified. Kent’s film takes something rather ordinary- a child who tries a parent’s patience- and spins it into an absolutely horrific experience. It’s one of the better horror films I’ve seen in quite some time. Ba ba DOOK DOOK DOOK!

Nightcrawler
The first “holy shit, that was awesome!” movie experience was Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s the kind of movie that comes straight out of Hollywood’s 1970s golden age. In fact, Gyllenhaal’s warped protagonist- Lou Bloom- comes off as the millennial answer to Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin. He’s engrossed in technology, enormously awkward socially in an increasingly psychotic way, and he builds fame while spouting empty corporate platitudes. It’s a scathing critique of modern society aimed directly at celebrity culture and the new psychology of the 21st century. And it bears plenty of dark humor, even going so far as to use heroic soundtrack bits when Bloom has sprinted past any sort of ethical line. I don’t know that I’d put it on par with There Will be Blood (2007) or Black Swan (2010), the two best movies for my money in the last 15-20 years, but Nightcrawler is just a tick below.

The Strain book trilogy (The Strain; The Fall; The Night Eternal)
After enjoying The Strain on FX so much, I decided that I didn’t want to wait for the show to come back in a year. I jumped in on the books and never looked back. I won’t spoil anything for show-watchers, but I will recommend the books. It took me approximately a month to wipe out all three of them. Then I gave them to my friend and he knocked them out even faster than I did.

Black Mirror
Showrunner Charlie Brooker describes Channel 4’s Black Mirror thusly: “each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they’re all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes time if we’re clumsy.” That’s a perfect description for a show that cleverly satirizes modern culture, specifically technology and celebrity worship. The first episode is a little shocking (let’s just say that it puts the best in bestiality) but the remaining episodes have softer edges. It’s streaming on Netflix right now, and the Christmas episode starring Jon Hamm will be airing on DirecTV this month.

Orphan Black
British shows with “Black” in the title have struck twice in my home. I’ve knocked out two seasons over the past several months. Orphan Black sometimes hits me as mediocre, but it occasionally offers flourishes of greatness- enough for it to fall in the 4-out-of-5-stars range. The real reason you should watch Orphan Black is the star, Tatiana Maslany. She plays countless clones, giving each her own personal flair. Her performance is seriously impressive and she deserves bigger stardom moving forward.

The Walking Dead
The most recent half-season of The Walking Dead just wrapped up. It’s shaping up to be the best season of the show yet. I know I’ve said a lot of nasty things about The Walking Dead in the past but it’s never been as good as it is right now. Characters are growing and the writers are abandoning the tropes they’d come to rely on far too much in the early going. They figured out everything that was wrong and they spent this past half-season correcting it. It’s an exciting direction and I can’t remember a show finding itself this deep into its run. New Rick makes a huge difference.